


Sunshine and Rainbows and Juiceboxes

by call-me-cee (cls1606)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Clone Trooper Culture (Star Wars), Coruscant residents have mixed feelings about the Coruscant Guard, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Slice of Life, baby chooses his name, learning about other cultures, respecting other cultures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29433714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cls1606/pseuds/call-me-cee
Summary: The children of a Senator and a Commander go to daycare.
Relationships: Riyo Chuchi/CC-1010 | Fox
Comments: 15
Kudos: 81
Collections: Star Wars Valentine's Exchange 2021





	Sunshine and Rainbows and Juiceboxes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [evabellasworld29](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evabellasworld29/gifts).



> Hewwo! @evabellasworld I hope this hits the spot. I don't normally read or write this pairing, so it was both challenging and interesting!! 
> 
> (Quick before-reading note for readers who might not know: Aurek and Besh are the letters A and B in the Star Wars world.)

Kaja never really gave much thought to the clones. They were simply a propaganda piece at first, then as the war dragged on and Coruscant was put under martial law they were the soulless face of the pigs (but Kaja was always too busy to join the protests, and besides her business depended on Senator patronage too much to object freely). After the Separatists surrendered, most of the free clones had moved far away to the new worlds opening up at the edge of the Empire, so Kaja only ever really thought about them when she was watching the news (The Pioneer Minute, after the Lower Levels Weather Report and before Today’s Recipe Spotlight) and occasionally dreaming of leaving the city-world for the wide open romance of the frontier ( _ha, with what credits?_ ). She’d long ago learned to leave speculation about parentage at the door of her daycare. After all, she may live on the lower levels but her business was top floor, and the upper crust did _not_ like insinuations about their children, no matter how innocent (or necessary for _emergency room visits_ , little gods have mercy). So when Senator Chuchi first brought her little twins to enroll them, Kaja noted their dark human hair and eyes with nary an eye blink before making a simple note in their medical files and moving on to aptitude tests. The children were like their mother in many ways, after all. Quietly stubborn, but kind. Diplomatic in ways small children normally weren’t. Kaja never worried about fights breaking out over toys or having to clean up destruction after leaving them alone for a few minutes to go to the restroom. 

* * *

_”How are my little cadets doing?” the Senator asked softly after the first week, smiling at the two happy younglings whose hands she was holding._

_”Oh, excellent,” Kaja responded. “Actually, they’re some of my best-behaved students._

_N-not that I’m surprised at that, Senator, I just meant to say-”_

_The Senator laughed gently. “I understand. It’s all their father’s doing, I’m afraid. He puts them on latrine duty when they misbehave.”_

_Kaja stared for a moment, smile frozen, unsure if the woman was serious or not. Best not to ask for details, she decided. Just laugh awkwardly and move the conversation along._

* * *

Kaja knew on some level that Senator Chuchi’s partner was a clone. You don’t get children temp-named 1010-A and 1010-B (Aurek and Besh for short) without having at least one clone parent. But she realized, upon first staring into the visor of the _Commander of the Coruscant Guard_ ’s helmet, that she hadn’t really thought through what it meant to have military kids in her care. 

“Report?” the Commander said without preamble. Something about him made Kaja stand straighter and lift her chin even as her lekku began to tremble with anxiety. 

“Um. The children are doing very well. We’ve started learning basic addition and subtraction, so you’ll be seeing some extra holo suggestions in the Family Fun Flimsies starting today. I don’t anticipate Aurek having any issues with them, but Besh has had some trouble with numbers above 9, so please take some extra time with that portion.” Kaja paused for breath. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she somehow knew that his attention was almost solely focused on her face. It was unnerving. She’d never been this close to an MP before. And here was their _leader_ , listening to her spout off about his child’s difficulties with two-digit numbers. It was surreal. She tried not to think about the rumors that this man and his unit had taken on a rogue Jedi _and won_. She swallowed. “They ate all of their lunches and settled down for naps without any trouble, but that’s completely normal for them anyway, so…” she trailed off. 

The Commander nodded brusquely. “Noted. Anything else?” 

“Uh, no. Sir. Although if anything comes up, Senator Chuchi has my comm code?”

“We both do.” At that, the Commander turned to look to Kaja’s right, where apparently his children had gathered, patiently waiting. Clone children ( _cadets_ , they call them _cadets_ ) certainly are a breed all their own, Kaja thought to herself. 

“Ready?” Their father asked. 

“Yes sir!”

“Did you say goodbye to your friends?”

“Yes sir!”

“Did you clean up after yourselves?”

“Yes sir!” (Proudly, on Besh’s part. The cadet’s sense of cleanliness was a work in progress, but Kaja was mostly satisfied with today’s efforts.) 

“Alright, link up.” Kaja watched with interest as Aurek and Besh first linked hands with each other and then Aurek took his father’s outstretched hand. 

The Commander nodded brusquely to Kaja. “Thank you. Senator Chuchi is off-planet this week so I will be handling transport until she returns.” 

“No problem,” she replied. “Have a lovely evening.”

They walked out the door, the Commander’s free hand never straying far from his blaster. Kaja briefly wondered who would be crazy enough to attack a Senator’s children, but the idea made her shudder and she quickly turned her attention back to the students still in her care.

* * *

Something was wrong with Aurek. Kaja watched the poor kid huddled in the corner while she waited for the comm to pick up. The Senator’s aide had put her through directly but apparently the senator was in a meeting of some sort. It rang and rang and rang, until eventually the aide came back on. “I’m sorry, ma’am, Senator Chuchi is in the middle of a very important meeting. May I take a message?”

“Yes. Tell the Senator Aurek is sick. Well, not physically sick. But we need her down here as soon as she can make it. Please.” Kaja told herself not to be short. The Senator had an important job. Kaja knew that. But still. 

Kaja hung up before she could lose her cool completely. _Oh great. Well, so much for renewing this contract next year._ She looked down at the secondary number on Aurek’s paperwork and took a deep breath. Oh man, she did _not_ like cops. But. This was his kid. 

She punched in the number with shaking fingers. 

* * *

“Report,” Kaja heard 15 minutes later. 

Something in the timbre of the Commander’s voice made her jump to attention. “Sir,” she started before she could help herself, “Aurek has been non-responsive for the past hour or so; not running a fever or showing any other signs of illness, so we’re not headed to the Emergency Room…yet. But he won’t talk and he won’t move from that corner, so we thought it best to call you.”

As she spoke, she watched him move purposefully towards Aurek. Over the comm she had heard him barking orders at his subordinates almost before she had finished her request. One did have to admire military efficiency. She watched as he knelt gently in front of the huddled boy, slowly taking off his helmet and laying it next to him. “Hey,” the Commander said. 

Aurek lifted his head from his knees. “Hey,” he sniffled. 

“What’s going on?” 

“I-…I-” with a sudden lurch Aurek launched into the Commander’s arms, burying his head in his father’s neck and sobbing. 

“Shh, shh.” Commander Fox rubbed Aurek’s back and waited patiently for the sobbing to subside before asking, “You ready to talk, or do you just want to go home?” 

Aurek moved back, rubbing his eyes and sniffing. “If…If I don’t want to be Aurek anymore, will you and Buir be mad?” 

Kaja watched the Commander freeze and then let out a slow breath. “Do you mean…you’ve chosen a name?”

Aurek nodded sadly, but before he could continue, Senator Chuchi burst in the door, wild-eyed and trailing flustered attendants. “Where is he? Is he okay? What’s happening?” She spotted her family and rushed over, kneeling beside them. “Fox, what’s going on?”

The Commander put a calming hand on her arm. “Riyo, he’s fine. He’s decided on a name and wanted to make sure we weren’t going to be angry with him.” 

A shocked pause. “Oh, honey,” the Senator said lovingly, brushing tears from his cheeks. “We could never be mad at you for choosing a name. We’ve been _waiting_ for this moment. No matter what you choose, we will always love you.”

Sniffles. “R-really?” 

“Of course,” the Commander replied. “Do you want to tell us now or wait until we get home? Either way is completely fine.” 

“Maybe…” He looked around uncertainly. 

Kaja thought that having this conversation in the daycare was probably not the most comfortable for a small child, and the Senator seemed to come to the same realization. In response to her sharp glare the various attendants that had accompanied her quickly found someplace else to be. (Kaja was very glad that _someplace else_ was not her daycare.) She stood and asked Kaja, “If it’s alright with you, we’ll take them home early today,” and moved towards the nap room. Well, Kaja certainly wasn’t going to get between an emotional Senator and her youngest, so she stayed put, thank you very much. 

As the Commander stood, picking Aurek up and propping him on a hip, he turned towards Kaja. “We…we need to fill out some flimsywork, correct?”

Kaja startled, her lekku pricking up in surprise. “Oh, I’ll have all that ready the next time I see you, don’t worry about it!”

He stared at her for a long moment, assessing. “…You’re sure?”

“Of course! Today is a special day, isn’t it, little _vod_?” She tweaked Aurek’s nose and smiled at his giggle. 

The Commander opened his mouth like he wanted to say something more, but his wife swept in with a sleepy Besh cuddled in her arms, clearly ready to leave. “…Thank you,” he settled on. 

Kaja had never seen a member of the Coruscant Guard so obviously uncomfortable before. _Is he…just as awkward with me as I am with him?_ She met his eyes, suddenly feeling a strange kinship with this stiff soldier-policeman. 

The senator kissed his cheek before he could put his helmet back on. “Shall we go? I think we can manage to get to that Chandrilan place you like before the dinner rush.” 

“Sounds good to me,” came through the vocoder. “Kids?” 

The resounding cheer from the babes brought a smile to Kaja’s face as she watched the little family walk out the door. Aurek turned back quickly to give her a wave, and as she waved back the daycare owner considered that maybe she wouldn’t be losing a client after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope your holiday is full of happy feels whether you have a romantic partner or not.


End file.
